J.J. Abrams Could Film Star Trek and Star Wars in 2014, Sending Fanboys and Trekkies Into Intergalactic Warfare

The rule always went: You're either a Fanboy (i.e. Star Wars nerd) or Trekkie (Star Trek nerd). You live and die by either the platitudes of Spock or the zen koans of the Force. You have strong feelings about Ewoks or Tribbles. But it was always one or the other.

Until Star Trek reboot director J.J. Abrams went and fucked all that up by getting involved with the Disney reboot of the Star Wars franchise as the director of the newest films in it. When the news was announced, it was before the excellent Star Trek: Into Darkness was released, and people weren't sure whether or not Abrams would cease his involvement with Star Trek in light of the news.

But it appears there might be some reality in the worst nightmares of many a Sci-Fi purist: He may end up directing both franchises, more or less at the same time.

While Abrams hasn't been confirmed as the director for the third Star Trek movie, he's still a producer in it, and handing off the franchise to someone else could be a dangerous move considering the track record of the previous two. The time it takes to make one movie to be released in 2015—in other words, shooting in 2014—doesn't leave much room for another one. That said, he hasn't ruled out being the director of the third Trek film either, and as Zach Quinto apparently told Buzzhub, not only does Abrams still want to direct it, but he wants to film it next year, too:

Star Trek 3 should be filming, I suppose, next year. It’s going to be made a lot quicker than the last one. That’s the plan, although nothing is confirmed yet. [...] At one point in the interview, Quinto mentioned that J.J. Abrams was planning to direct Star Trek 3, which is another surprising fact, but once again, he did not elaborate.

Even better, Quinto—who plays Spock in the Abrams movies—has definitely taken a side in the matter of Trekkies vs. Fanboys:

He was also asked if he would want to reunite with Abrams and appear in Star Wars Episode VII, and he said he would not, without giving a particular reason.

At least someone's willing to get off the fence. If Abrams were to actually direct both movies, and release them in the same year, a bunch of fake galaxies could fold in on themselves, and Comic Con will basically become the bloody Gettysburg of rival nerd factions.

So we've got that going for us. The guy's proven his mettle as someone able to breathe great new life into tired franchies (Star Trek, Mission Impossible), and as long as Abrams doesn't mix the two in some kind of mixed-universe type-deal, we're fine with it. But if that happened? Bricks. We'd throw bricks.